The masterwork of renowned arts educator Josef Albers, Interaction of Color has occupied a hallowed place on many bookshelves since its publication in 1963, becoming a go-to reference on pigments and perception. To celebrate its 50th anniversary, the design firm Potion, in collaboration with The Josef & Anni Albers Foundation and Yale University Press, created an interactive iPad app updating this bible of color theory for the 21st century, allowing users to delve into his ideas and, as the teacher would certainly approve, play and experiment.
The former Bauhaus professor, who worked alongside Klee and Kandinsky before emigrating to the United States in 1933, spent decades teaching at institutions including Yale and Black Mountain College, experimenting and refining his ideas about how colors influence one another. This new version of Interaction includes more than 125 of his original color studies on the topics of intensity, transparency and temperature, as well as more than 60 interactive plates and a palette tool, allowing readers to directly apply his ideas. Archival videos of Albers, as well as commentary by contemporary practitioners like textile designer Christopher Farr, graphic designer Peter Mendelsund and painters Anoka Faruqee and Brice Marden, round out the educational experience. If only all textbooks were this exciting.
The App Stores released a free version of Interaction of Color today containing a full chapter and color palette. The full version, with more than 125 color plates and 60 interactive studies, is available as an in-App purchase for $9.99.
Inspired by the end-of-day ritual some families practice—parents asking kids "So, how was your day?" at the dinner table and perhaps also serving as a kind of journal for the time-strained modern individual—Alex Fuller and Jessa Brinkmeyer created the new Highs & Lows iOS app. It allows users to reflect on the day's events, wins, and losses and record their causes. The app pulls out two simple high and low points that sum up day. Over time, say after a month, one can look back and see if there is a pattern to the predominance of ups and downs. And naturally, one can share app entries via Facebook or Twitter—delivering a more balanced recap of one's day rather than just the major highlights and lowlights we normally share.
Find out more at myhighsandlows.com or download Highs & Lows for $1.99 in the app store.
There are few things as frustrating as a good idea getting forgotten or lost in the shuffle of a creative collaboration. Even worse, breakthrough ideas seem to always occur at the exact moment when you're furthest from your workspace or team. Sticky Storm is a new note taking app from MINIMAL that was designed with creative collaboration in mind. Similar to jotting down ideas on napkin scraps and the backs of envelopes, the app is based around a series of shareable and arrangeable digital "paper" notes that let your team collect ideas in just about any form, from sketches, to text, and even images from the Internet. The app has features for inviting team members to collaborate and contribute ideas during brainstorming sessions, and most importantly, a built-in export feature to transfer your project back to a workstation using services like Dropbox.
While Sticky Storm is not yet available, you can learn more about the concept on Behance.
